Bowthruster usage

[Momac]

8 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Pinned to the bank by the wind after mooring overnight. 

 

 

 

No one died but a bowthruster would have been handy. 

 

 

Probably not as much help as you might think.

[magnetman]

Maybe I am making assumptions based on the name of the device. 

 

 

 

I have always had a floccinaucinihilipilification of bowthrusters but some people say they do something.

 

 

[manxmike]

My boat didn't have a bow thruster, so I learnt to handle the boat, even single handing. However entering our mooring at Venetian a BT would have been very handy, especially on windy days.

I always, when pushing the stern out, got on first then pushed off. Watching the stern of the boat drift away from you whilst standing on the bank leads to the use of some old anglo saxon language. It also leads to a dash to any part of the boat still within reach of a jump to get on board. I've only done that once and thankfully didn't fall in.

[Tigerr]

New to us boat has a bow thruster and it's brilliant. Makes precise manoeuvres in confined space a doddle. Regardless of wind conditions, will put the boat where it needs to be. You can literally drift the whole boat sideways, perpendicular, if you want. 

The ten years of pretending I was a master helmsman, ou of the window. Massive improvement in control and safety. 

[Tony1]

1 minute ago, Tigerr said:

New to us boat has a bow thruster and it's brilliant. Makes precise manoeuvres in confined space a doddle. Regardless of wind conditions, will put the boat where it needs to be. You can literally drift the whole boat sideways, perpendicular, if you want. 

The ten years of pretending I was a master helmsman, ou of the window. Massive improvement in control and safety. 

 

Alas, another boater falls into the ways of sin and devilry.  

It is not too late to save your immortal soul my son- but you must recant from the evil thruster and return to True Boaterhood.

 

[magnetman]

Its an illusion. Domination of a primary sense is always a bit of a giveaway. 

 

If it is silent I will eat my hat.

 

 

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

24 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

Alas, another boater falls into the ways of sin and devilry.  

It is not too late to save your immortal soul my son- but you must recant from the evil thruster and return to True Boaterhood.

 

And while you are at it learn how to tack and groom the horse. If it adds to your boating enjoyment then carry on using it, but don't lose the skills you have already learnt 

[magnetman]

Bowthrusters are a scam invented by Vetus. 

[IanD]

40 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Its an illusion. Domination of a primary sense is always a bit of a giveaway. 

 

If it is silent I will eat my hat.

 

 

Modern bowthrusters (e.g. Vetus Pro) are throttleable, and can be quiet at low rpm/thrust or noisy at maximum rpm/thrust just like any propeller.

 

12 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Bowthrusters are a scam invented by Vetus. 

 

You really do *love* the word "scam", don't you? First Musk, now Vetus... 😉

Edited November 15, 2023 by IanD

[Tigerr]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

Its an illusion. Domination of a primary sense is always a bit of a giveaway. 

 

If it is silent I will eat my hat.

 

 

 

 

Obviously it's not silent, but it's much less noisy than the bloke ramming his engine this way and that while failing to insert his boat in the slot, and swearing about the wind as he bumps into things, and pretends that was always what he meant to do. 

I admit to my own previous snobbery. I really wish we'd had this tool when we'd been on the K&A, dealing with those locks. The old boat might not have ben so bashed about. 

 

[magnetman]

2 hours ago, IanD said:

 

Modern bowthrusters (e.g. Vetus Pro) are throttleable, and can be quiet at low rpm/thrust or noisy at maximum rpm/thrust just like any propeller.

 

 

You really do *love* the word "scam", don't you? First Musk, now Vetus... 😉

I do like the word 'scam'.

 

Its great.

 

Are you a scam?

 

Also it was not vetus who introduced the bow thruster to the world in the first place.

 

It would be interesting to know how these entirely pointless but conspicuously expensive devices found their way in to non commercial canal boats.

 

Maybe it *was* Vetus and I have accidentally hit a nail on its head.

 

OMG

[IanD]

27 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I do like the word 'scam'.

 

Its great.

 

Are you a scam?

 

Also it was not vetus who introduced the bow thruster to the world in the first place.

 

It would be interesting to know how these entirely pointless but conspicuously expensive devices found their way in to non commercial canal boats.

 

Maybe it *was* Vetus and I have accidentally hit a nail on its head.

 

OMG

 

Have you been reading TWC's alternative dictionary again? 😉

 

You think they're entirely pointless; others who have actually used them (especially modern ones) don't. They're not essential and you can obviously do without them, but there are times when they make life easier -- just like many other items of modern technology...

Edited November 15, 2023 by IanD

[magnetman]

You din't answer my question.

 

Are you a scam?

 

I'm not bothered about bowthrusters or electric motors.

 

 

(didn't)

[IanD]

5 minutes ago, magnetman said:

You din't answer my question.

 

Are you a scam?

 

I'm not bothered about bowthrusters or electric motors.

 

(didn't)

A person cannot be "a scam" :

 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scam

[magnetman]

Thank you for the correction.

 

 

[MtB]

3 hours ago, Tigerr said:

I really wish we'd had this tool when we'd been on the K&A, dealing with those locks. The old boat might not have ben so bashed about. 

 

 

Oh dear. There are ways to do those K&A locks going uphill without getting bashed about.

 

The trouble with getting reliant on a bow thruster is when it packs up, you are up a creek without a ... oh, never mind. 

 

 

[Momac]

 

Maybe folks who detest bow thrusters so passionately should consider whether their boat really needs an engine and should change to the horse being the  original means of moving boats on a canal.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, MartynG said:

 

Maybe folks who detest bow thrusters so passionately should consider whether their boat really needs an engine and should change to the horse being the  original means of moving boats on a canal.

 

We asked C&RT if we could use our horse that SWMBO uses in carriage driving to pull our NB and they refused stating (weirdly) "the canal towpaths are not suitable for horses as they were never designed to be used by horses".

 

It is sad really that those in charge of the canals have such a poor knowlege, but I guess, 'its just a job'.

[Momac]

3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

It is sad really that those in charge of the canals have such a poor knowlege......

Yes it's very disappointing but no great surprise.

[Bacchus]

10 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

We asked C&RT if we could use our horse that SWMBO uses in carriage driving to pull our NB and they refused stating (weirdly) "the canal towpaths are not suitable for horses as they were never designed to be used by horses".

 

 

They must really be scratching their heads wondering why the cycle-tracks are called "towpaths"

[howardang]

10 hours ago, MartynG said:

 

Maybe folks who detest bow thrusters so passionately should consider whether their boat really needs an engine and should change to the horse being the  original means of moving boats on a canal.

And what about that new fangled electric light stuff? Oil lamps are the way to go, and as for hot water and central heating? Work of the devil I say!

 

Howard

[magnetman]

 

Internet is the worst one. Who'd want that ??

[MtB]

I don't loathe bow thrusters per se. Its the ghastly, offensive, sharp screeching noise the electric ones make, piercing the peace of the canal that I dislike.

 

Hydraulic thrusters are the opposite. Quiet, elegant and discreet.

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by MtB
Clarify a point.

[magnetman]

I think a bowthruster has the potential to take away some of the excitement of handling a boat in challenging conditions.

 

Its very funny how people take it all so seriously. At the end of the day some people want to have a prop in a transverse tube across the front of their boat and other people don't want to do this. Maybe the people who do want this are not all that confident about their own boat handling skills or perhaps the people who don't want them are overconfident.

 

It really doesn't matter in the slightest as long as one avoids crashing into things.

 

I personally think bowthrusters are not worth having. This is just as irrelevant as someone thinking that they are worth having.

 

None of it amounts to a hill of beans yet people do get agitated about it.

 

Its hilarious.

 

 

 

 

[IanD]

8 minutes ago, MtB said:

I don't loathe bow thrusters per se. Its the ghastly, offensive, sharp screeching noise the electric ones make, piercing the peace of the canal that I dislike.

 

Hydraulic thrusters are the opposite. Quiet, elegant and discreet.

 

 

Have you ever used one?

 

I've been on a boat with a hydraulic bow thruster, and I wasn't at all impressed. For starters it wasn't that quiet, but the main problem was that it did pretty much nothing with the engine at idle, you had to raise the engine revs quite a lot to get it to work effectively -- and this is the last thing you want to do in gear in many cases where you want to use a BT. And no, taking the engine out of gear using the Morse controller isn't a sensible option either -- want to use BT so take engine out of gear, advance throttle to raise revs, engage BT, then when done go back to neutral and re-engage drive -- really?

 

Yes the older electric BTs make a hideous loud noise because they're either on (at full rpm/thrust) or off, and they use noisy brushed motors. The newer PMAC ones are quieter and variable speed, and instead of using them at full speed for a few seconds you run them more slowly (and *much* more quietly) for longer, exactly like you do with the engine/propeller.